Best Ice Cream in Orlando

Driving down highway 192 about 5 miles east of Disney World, Mrs. LanceAround and I are suddenly blinded by a small, hot pink building with yellow trim. But what really catches my eye is the sign saying, “Homemade Ice Cream.”

Inside we meet Noelia Scharon, owner of Tropical Delight Homemade Ice Cream. Noelia just moved here from Kennett Square, PA where a magazine proclaimed her ice cream as the “Best of Philadelphia 2009.” She explains that she had to get out of the cold weather, so she moved to the Disney area.

Some of you may recognize Kennett Square, PA as the “mushroom capital of the world.” And, yes, in addition to the common flavors of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, Noelia makes a mushroom flavored ice cream! She also makes avocado, tamarind, rice pudding and a sweet corn enhanced with chili powder.

I buy a scoop of toasted coconut and a scoop of peanut butter. Mrs. LanceAround gets one scoop of her favorite–pistachio. The charge is only $5 for both. The ice cream is primo–sweet, creamy and delicious.

Noelia shows Mrs. LanceAround a fresh tamarind

We are about to leave when Noelia talks about how she makes everything from scratch. She holds up a tamarind and some limes and proudly shows her ice cream machine from Mexico. I can’t resist anymore, so I get a quart of rice pudding and a mango sorbet pop for vegan # 2 son. Noelia throws in another quart of pistachio for Mrs. LanceAround at no charge.

I pay another $9.25 and prepare to leave.

“Do you have a plastic spoon?” Noelia asks.

“I have a spoon.” I reply.

“Is it plastic?” she asks again. I give her a quizzical look. “Metal spoons affect the taste of the ice cream.” she offers.

“Even stainless steel spoons? asks Mrs. LanceAround?

Noelia nods her head and I say, “You are a true ice cream aficionado!” with a smile on my face.

While home in New England, where ice cream is king, I googled ‘homemade ice cream orlando’ and found this article. I consider myself an ice cream connoisseur, and have fond memories of a cone of avocado ice cream in Mexico City many years ago. Our first stop in the Orlando area was Tropical Delight. Many surprise flavors to include avocado!! A new dimension in ‘food for the soul’.
On our second visit, we met LanceAround who was also sampling the wares.
Thanks for the tip, LanceAround!

Hi Clyde: What a fun irony to have met you at Tropical Delight. I don’t get there very often. It was a treat. Thanks for the comment, though I noticed you stopped short of crowning Kissimmee as the new King of Ice Cream. I used to live in New England and have eaten at the original Steve’s and Herrell’s. I even understand there are a couple of boys north of you named Ben and Jerry who do a decent ice cream–but none of them have anything on Noelia. Tell you what, why don’t we compromise. You proclaim Noelia to be the Queen of Ice Cream and I’ll allow New England to remain King! What do you say? LanceAround